A man considered too fat to be jailed has spoken out after escaping time behind bars because of his weight.

Shepparton man Claude Jackson was ordered to do community service for smashing a glass over another man's head at a Shepparton bar on January 14, 2007.

The victim, Tim Kirkman, received a 4cm cut to his neck in the incident and required hospital treatment. Jackson pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury and affray.

A medical report submitted to the County Court sitting at Shepparton said Mr Jackson, who weighed 190kg, had suffered three heart attacks earlier in life and suffered from ongoing arthritis, sleep apnoea and other weight-related ailments.

While reluctant to talk about the incident, the 21-year-old said he was deeply sorry and had been keeping out of trouble since the bar brawl. "I would like to say sorry to (Mr Kirkman)," Mr Jackson said yesterday. If I could take back everything that happened on the night, I would. But unfortunately it happened and I have to deal with it. I have definitely learnt my lesson."

His lawyer said on Friday he would appeal the sentence. The court will explain its verdict later.

The two met on two separate occasions in 2005 on a commuter train going from Lecco, a town in northern Italy, to Milan.

The first time, the man sat next to the woman but she felt he had moved too close for comfort. The next day, the man sat in front of the same woman and according to her complaint, stared at her for the whole journey.

Authorities have charged a western Oklahoma sheriff with coercing and bribing female inmates so he could use them in a sex-slave operation run out of his jail.

Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess resigned on Wednesday just as state prosecutors filed 35 felony charges against him, including 14 counts of second-degree rape, seven counts of forcible oral sodomy and five counts of bribery by a public official.

Burgess, the top officer in the county of 26,000 since 1994, was released after posting $50,000 bail.The crimes are to have occurred between October 2005 and April 2007.

A blind man was stranded miles from home after being prevented from boarding a train – because his guide dog "might have fleas". Mark McClenaghan, who was unable to board the sleeper from Aberdeen to Edinburgh with his dog Friday, wants an apology and compensation from rail bosses.

He had to catch a later train to Perth on Tuesday evening, and then pay out £95 for a taxi to his home in Dalry. First Scotrail is investigating his complaint. The firm says it has clear guidelines for staff and guide dogs are welcome on all trains.

Mr McClenaghan, who has a free travel pass for Scotland as he is registered blind, said: "The guard told me I couldn't get on because my dog was a health risk. It might pass on fleas, germs or mites.

"She said this was the only seated carriage on the train, and if someone was allergic or afraid of dogs, they couldn't move to another one. She even said they would have to book a deep cleaning team to clean the train afterward.

"I couldn't believe it. I said this was a guide dog, not a pet. It's certified by the Health and Safety Executive to enter any establishment as a mobility aid. I shouldn't be penalised.

"I asked to speak to the station manager, but he reiterated what the guard had said. He even questioned my disability. I'm 95 per cent blind and Friday was clearly wearing a harness. I couldn't believe the sheer ignorance."

A 21-year-old man imprisoned his grandmother in a freezing cold shed and then went into her home and stole her cash, Mold Crown Court has heard.

Dorothy Harrison, 62, who had taken Richard Harrison into her Welshpool home when his mother turned him out, feared she would be there all night.

Judge John Rogers QC told the defendant he had been guilty of wicked offences. "Your grandmother, who gave you a home and fed you, is a lady with mobility problems and who suffers from asthma," the judge said. On this night you lured her out of her own home into the shed, which you locked. You ignored her pleas to be released.

"You then went back into her home, smashed her china cabinet and stole £15 in cash. Had it not been for neighbour Geoffrey Meredith, your grandmother might well have spent the whole night in that shed which could have had a fatal effect on her health. Only prison is appropriate."

It was freezing cold, she used a plastic pram cover which was to try and keep warm to no avail, and broke the door handle while trying to open it. It was so cold that the window had frozen over.

Harrison admitted false imprisonment, damage and theft and was jailed for 18 months.

A hypnotist stunned medics by snubbing anaesthetic and sending himself into a trance before undergoing surgery.

Mind-bender Alex Lenkei, who could hear the cracking of bones as the surgeon sawed at his hand but felt nothing, is thought to be the first person in the world to perform the feat.

Mr Lenkei, 61, has told of how he felt "wonderful" as he showed off his bandaged and swollen hand, fresh from the 83-minute surgery he underwent on Wednesday at Worthing Hospital, West Sussex.

Mr Lenkei, a father-of-one from Worthing, told how he could hear his surgeon talking as he slit a four-inch cut in his right wrist to chisel out a walnut-sized chunk of bone and move a tendon.

He said: "It took me about 30 seconds to put myself under and I wasn't aware of any part of my body apart from my arm. I could feel the surgeon pulling and manipulating me - then I heard the cracking of bones. I heard him say, 'can I have the saw please?', and imagined him holding this great big thing in his hand. But fortunately he then said' 'I think we'll use the smaller one.'

"He used a hammer and chisel at one stage and I could hear him hammering away at the bone. I heard everything he was saying to his assistants and anaethetist, but there was no gossip. It was a shame - I was hoping to hear something juicy."

After the AntiSocial Behaviour Order was made, Bullough said: “If they had helped me in the first place I wouldn’t have had to contact them so many times.” He added: “This ASBO doesn’t stop me writing letters – I can write as many as I like.”